885 Little Bags: The Work Behind Nac in a Nutshell

You know those little candy bags you pick up at events?

You grab one off a table, eat the candy, maybe look at the card inside, and probably never think twice about how it got there.

Well… I will never look at one of those little bags the same way again. 😂

For Nac in a Nutshell, Life Line Housing decided to prepare 885 candy bags to hand out. When I first came up with the idea, 885 didn't sound that terrible.

Get some bags. Put some candy in them. Add our Life Line Housing information. Done.

Yeah... no. 😂

It Took FOUR DAYS!

Jaycee, Emily, and I spent about four days working on these bags. We had candy spread everywhere—sorting it, counting it, filling bags, putting our Life Line Housing labels on them, and trying to make sure each one was ready to go.

And when you're staring at a table covered in candy, 885 suddenly feels like about 8,850.

But we kept going.

There were laughs, plenty of candy, and lots of family time mixed into those hundreds of little bags. Slowly, the piles of empty bags became piles of finished ones.

Then came the next step.

Once the candy was finished, every bag still needed the information sheet explaining who Life Line Housing is, what we are working toward, how someone can get involved, and how to connect with us.

That's when Grace Handler, President of the Life Line Housing Board, joined me.

And let me tell you—she knocked those papers out!

Bag after bag after bag, she stuffed the information inside until all those little bags were finally ready for Nac in a Nutshell.

Looking at the finished pile was pretty amazing because I knew exactly how much work was represented in that picture.

More Than a Bag of Candy

The funny thing is, the people who received them probably just saw a cute little Life Line Housing candy bag.

And that's exactly what they were supposed to see.

They didn't need to see the four days of work.

They didn't need to see the tables covered in candy.

They didn't need to know how many times we reached into another pile, opened another bag, or stuffed another piece of paper.

They just needed to receive it.

And maybe that's one of the biggest lessons I took away from this experience.

So much of nonprofit work happens where nobody sees it.

Before the resource table is set up, before the event doors open, and before you have those wonderful conversations with people in the community, somebody has been sitting at a table doing the little things.

And sometimes those "little things" happen 885 times.

But every one of those bags had a purpose. Each one carried the Life Line Housing name out into our community. Maybe someone ate the candy and threw the bag away. Maybe someone read the paper. Maybe someone kept it because they know somebody who needs help. Maybe one of those bags will eventually connect someone to recovery housing or another resource.

We may never know.

But that's why we do it.

I'll Never Look at a Candy Bag the Same Again

From now on, when I walk up to another organization's table and someone hands me one of those little bags of candy, I'm going to appreciate it a whole lot more.

Because now I know. 😂

Somebody sat at a table and stuffed that thing.

And if there are hundreds of them sitting there, somebody probably spent HOURS doing it!

So here's a little behind-the-scenes thank you to Jaycee, Emily, and Grace for helping turn piles and piles of candy, bags, labels, and papers into 885 opportunities to introduce someone to Life Line Housing.

It took four days, a lot of hands, and probably more candy than I ever want to sort again...

But seeing those bags sitting on our table at Nac in a Nutshell made every bit of it worth it. 🧡💙🏠

885 bags. 885 opportunities to make a connection. And one more lesson learned while building Life Line Housing.